Glossary: Equity Terms

Antiracist: Being antiracist results from a conscious decision to make frequent, consistent, equitable choices daily. These choices require ongoing self-awareness and self-reflection as we move through life. In the absence of making antiracist choices, we (un)consciously uphold aspects of white supremacy, white-dominant culture, and unequal institutions and society. Being racist or antiracist is not about who you are; it is about what you do.

• As applied to White People: Being antiracist evolves with their racial identity development. They must acknowledge and understand their privilege, work to change their internalized racism, and interrupt racism when they see it.

• As applied to People of Color: It means recognizing how race and racism have been internalized, and whether it has been applied to other people of color.

Bias: Prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in an unfair or negative way. Unconscious bias, also known as implicit bias, is defined as “attitudes and stereotypes that influence judgment, decision-making, and behavior in ways that are outside of conscious awareness and/or control”. Work on implicit bias and its relationship to diversity was pioneered by Harvard Professor Mahzarin Banaji (with Tony Greenwald) and includes the Implicit Association Test.

Cultural Competence: Set of congruent behaviors, attitudes and policies that enable a system, agency, or professional to function effectively across cultural difference (Cross, 1988). In this context, cultural difference (also called diversity) includes, but is not limited to, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, and socio-economic class. As Cross notes, "systems, agencies, or professionals do not start out being culturally competent. Like other types of competence, cultural competence is developed over time through training, experience, guidance, and self-evaluation.

Discrimination: Actions based on conscious or unconscious prejudice that favor one group over others in the provision of goods, services or opportunities.

Diversity v. Inclusion v. Belonging: Diversity typically means proportionate representation across all dimensions of human difference. Inclusion means that everyone is included, visible, heard and considered. Belonging means that everyone is treated and feels like a full member of the larger community, is accountable to one another, and can thrive.

Equity: The guarantee of fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all students, faculty, and staff, while at the same time striving to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented the full participation of marginalized groups. The principle of equity acknowledges that there are historically underserved and underrepresented populations and that fairness regarding these unbalanced conditions is needed to assist equality in the provision of effective opportunities to all groups.

Implicit Bias: Also known as unconscious or hidden bias, implicit biases are negative associations that people unknowingly hold. They are expressed automatically, without conscious awareness. Many studies have indicated that implicit biases affect individuals’ attitudes and actions, thus creating real-world implications, even though individuals may not even be aware that those biases exist within themselves. Notably, implicit biases have been shown to trump individuals’ stated commitments to equality and fairness, thereby producing behavior that diverges from the explicit attitudes that many people profess. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is often used to measure implicit biases regarding race, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion and other topics.

Intersectionality: The theory, conceptualized in the 1980s by Black feminist legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, that markers of identity do not act independently of one another, but exist simultaneously, creating a complex web of privilege and oppression and “negating the possibility of a unitary or universal experience of any one manifestation of oppression” (i.e. a gay Latino man experiences male privilege differently than a gay white man AND homophobia differently than a gay white man). Examining the experiences of people who live at the intersections of two (or more) subordinated identities becomes a useful way to diagnose oppression within a system. (Adams:Crenshaw) It reflects the ways that our socially constructed identities come together in one body, and concerns the interrelatedness of our social identities, both privileged and oppressed, and how this mixture impacts both our self-perception and how we are viewed and treated by other individuals, groups, institutions, and by society.

Invisible Minority: A group whose minority status is not always immediately visible, such as some Persons with Disabilities (PWD) and LGBTIQ people. This lack of visibility may make organizing for rights difficult

‘Ism's’: A way of describing any attitude, action or institutional structure that subordinates (oppresses) a person or group because of their target group, color (racism), gender (sexism), economic status (classism), older age (ageism), religion (e.g., anti-Semitism), sexual orientation (heterosexism), language/immigrant status (xenophobism), etc.

Microaggression: A comment or action that unconsciously or unintentionally expresses or reveals a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group, such as a racial minority. These small, common occurrences include insults, slights, stereotyping, undermining, devaluing, delegitimizing, overlooking or excluding someone. Over time, microaggressions can isolate and alienate those on the receiving end, and affect their health and wellbeing.

Microinequities: Small events that may be ephemeral and hard to prove; that may be covert, often unintentional, and frequently unrecognized by the perpetrator; that occur wherever people are perceived to be different; and that can cause serious harm, especially in the aggregate.

Micromessaging: Small, subtle messages, sometimes subconscious, that are communicated between people without saying a word. We each send between 2,000 and 4,000 positive and negative micro-messages each day. Micro-messages are small behaviors that add up to have a big impact. These subtle, semi-conscious, universally understood messages, both verbal and physical, tell others what we really think about them.

Oppression: Results from the use of institutional power and privilege where one person or group benefits at the expense of another. Oppression is the use of power and the effects of domination.

Othering: Language that refers to them or others; typically used to identify a separation between and among groups. It has been used in social sciences to understand the processes by which societies and groups exclude others whom they want to subordinate or who do not fit into their society

Prejudice: A pre-judgment in favor of or against a person, a group, an event, an idea, or a thing. An action based on prejudgment is discrimination. A negative prejudgment is often called a stereotype. An action based on a stereotype is called bigotry. (What distinguishes this group of terms from all the others on these two pages is that there is no power relationship necessarily implied or expressed by “prejudice,” discrimination,” “stereotype” or “bigotry.”)

Privilege: An advantage that comes from historical oppression of other groups. Privilege can be seen in race, gender, sexuality, ability, socioeconomic status, age etc. Acknowledging it isn’t meant to shame those with certain privilege but rather challenge the systems that make it exist. It does not mean that you with a certain privilege have never had challenges in life, just that there are some challenges you will not experience because of your identity.

Stereotype: An oversimplified generalization about a person or a group. These can be about both negative and positive qualities but regardless, they lump people together. Stereotypes are cognitive shortcuts and become a bias when you apply the stereotype to an action. Example: saying that white people can’t dance and Black people are good dancers is a stereotype. Asking a Black person to dance with you instead of the white person for this reason is a bias.

There are two concepts at play here.

1. Stereotype threat: a phenomenon where an individual subconsciously acts to fit a stereotype. Example: Women preform worse on math exams when they think that the results will show a gender difference.

2. Empirical Generalization: A fact about a large group of people. Example: Men are taller than women. Statistically this is true but not universal to all men.

Unconscious Bias: see implicit bias.

Ableism: Beliefs or practices that rest on the assumption that being able-bodied is “normal” while other states of being need to be “fixed” or altered. This can result in devaluing or discriminating against people with physical, intellectual or psychiatric disabilities. Institutionalized ableism may include or take the form of un/intentional organizational barriers that result in disparate treatment of persons with disabilities.

Accessibility: The "ability to access" the functionality of a system or entity and gain the related benefits. The degree to which a product, service, or environment is accessible by as many people as possible. The measure of something's usability by persons with disabilities​.

Accommodation: Any change, alteration or modification to the way things are customarily done that provides an equal opportunity. Examples of accommodations include, but are not limited to, sign language interpreters, materials in alternative formats (such as braille, different font size or digital format), preferential seating, and assistive listening devices.

Assistive Technology (AT): Any item, piece of equipment, or product system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve ease of use or usability for individuals with disabilities. Examples include message boards, screen readers, refreshable Braille displays, keyboard and mouse modifications, and head pointers.​​

​Inclusive Design: A theory that says that designing for accessibility should be the base of the design process to provide the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people possible. Also known as "accessible design", "barrier-free design", "human-centered design", "design-first, person-first design", and "universal access".

Individuals with Diverse Abilities: is the term used when referring to American colleagues.

Person First vs Identity First Language: Person first language is preferred by many when speaking about persons with disabilities. Person first language, such as saying “Person with a Disability” rather than using expressions like “handicapped,” or “challenged,” emphasizes that the person is more important than the disability. However, there are individuals who prefer to be  identified first by their disability such as a “Deaf Person.” Presently, it is best to take your cue from the individual with a disability regarding preference.

Affirmed Gender: An individual’s true gender, as opposed to their gender assigned at birth. This term should replace terms like new gender or chosen gender, which imply that an individual’s gender was chosen.

Benevolent Sexism (BS): Involves subjectively positive images of women, such as considering women as nurturing, sensible, caring, and having a sense of aesthetic and moral superiority. BS idealizes women but only if they conform to the traditional roles men assign them and do not challenge men’s authority. BS encompasses three different components (Glick & Fiske, 1996, 1997). The first one, Complementary Gender Differentiation, involves the belief that although men and women harmonize, women are the better gender—but only in ways that suit conventional gender roles. The second component is Heterosexual Intimacy or the belief that there are powerful feelings of personal need and intense affection between men and women and that a man can achieve true happiness in life only when involved in a romantic relationship with a woman. The third one is Protective Paternalism—the main interest in the current studies. Protective Paternalism refers to the belief that men should protect, cherish, and provide for the women on whom they depend.

Genderism: The system of belief that there are only two genders (men and women) and that gender is inherently tied to one’s sex assigned at birth. It holds cisgender people as superior to transgender people, and punishes or excludes those who don't conform to society’s expectations of gender​

Gender Neutral: Not gendered. Can refer to language (including pronouns and salutations/titles), spaces (like bathrooms), or identities (being genderqueer, for example).

Heteronormativity: The assumption that everyone is heterosexual, and that heterosexuality is superior to all other sexualities​

Misgender: To refer to someone, especially a transgender or gender-expansive person, using a word, especially a pronoun or form of address, which does not correctly reflect the gender with which they identify.

Outing: The deliberate or accidental sharing of another person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression without their explicit consent. Outing is considered disrespectful and a potentially dangerous act for 2SLGBTQ+ individuals.​

Pronouns: Words to refer to a person after initially using their name. Gendered pronouns include she and he, her and him, hers and his, and herself and himself. "Personal/Preferred gender pronouns" (or PGPs) are the pronouns that people ask others to use in reference to themselves. They may be plural gender-neutral pronouns such as they, them, their(s). Or, they may be ze (rather than she or he) or hir (rather than her(s) and him/his). Some people state their pronoun preferences as a form of allyship

Sexism: Sexism originally referred to the belief in the existence of a hierarchy where men are advantaged and women are disadvantaged. Sexism derives its basis during a time in which there existed a binary of sex and power, divided into the categories of men and women, respectively. Sex is an important aspect to sexism since it is in the term and makes up the base definition of sexism, which is relating to the categories of male and female. Today’s understanding of sexism has evolved to include:

• The belief that one sex is superior to the other

• The belief that everyone belongs to the male sex or the female sex

• Using the identities of man or woman to define ability​

• Attitudes of hatred of women or men because of their gender

• Attitudes that demand or force masculinity on men and femininity on women​​

Anti-Blackness/Anti-Black Racism: The Council for Democratizing Education defines anti-Blackness as being a two-part formation that both voids Blackness of value, while systematically marginalizing Black people and their issues. The first form of anti-Blackness is overt racism. Beneath this anti-Black racism is the covert structural and systemic racism which categorically predetermines the socioeconomic status of Blacks in this country. The structure is held in place by anti-Black policies, institutions, and ideologies. The second form of anti-Blackness is the unethical disregard for anti-Black institutions and policies. This disregard is the product of class, race, and/or gender privilege certain individuals experience due to anti-Black institutions and policies. This form of anti-Blackness is protected by the first form of overt racism.

BIPOC: Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) is used to highlight the unique relationship to whiteness that Indigenous and Black (African Americans) people have, which shapes the experiences of and relationship to white supremacy for all people of color within a U.S. context.

Culture: A set of shared ideas, customs, traditions, beliefs, and practices shared by a group of people that is constantly changing, in subtle and major ways.

​Ethnicity: Ethnicity refers to the social identity and mutual belongingness that defines a group of people on the basis of common origins, shared beliefs, and shared standards of behavior (culture).​​

Ethnocentrism: The belief that one group is right and must be protected and defended. The negative aspect involves blatant assertion of personal and cultural superiority

Indigenous Peoples: Indigenous Peoples is a collective name for the original peoples of North America and their descendants. In the United States and its territories, this includes Native Hawaiians, Alaska Natives, Pacific Islanders, and American Indians. In Canada, there are three groups of formally recognized Indigenous peoples: First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

Migrant Worker: A worker who moves from place to place to do seasonal work.

Model Minority Myth: This term is often used to refer to a minority group that is perceived as particularly successful (economically, academically, or culturally), especially in a manner that contrasts with other marginalized groups. The designation is often applied to Asian Americans and many argue it intends to drive a wedge among marginalized groups, particularly among people of color in the US.

Race: A dynamic set of historically derived and institutionalized ideas and practices that (1) sorts people into ethnic groups according to perceived physical and behavioral human characteristics; (2) associates differential value, power and privilege with these characteristics and establishes a social status ranking among the different groups; and (3) emerges (a) when groups are perceived to pose a threat (political, economic or cultural) to each other’s world view or way of life; and/or (b) to justify the denigration and exploitation (past, current or future) of, and prejudice toward, other groups.

Racial and Ethnic Identity: An individual's awareness and experience of being a member of a racial and ethnic group; the racial and ethnic categories that an individual chooses to describe him or herself based on such factors as biological heritage, physical appearance, cultural affiliation, early socialization and personal experience

Racial Identity Development Theory: A theory that discusses how people in various racial groups and with multiracial identities form their self-concept. It also describes some typical phases in remaking that identity based on learning and awareness of systems of privilege and structural racism, cultural and historical meanings attached to racial categories, and factors operating in the larger socio-historical level (e.g. globalization, technology, immigration and increasing multiracial population)

Racial Reconciliation: Reconciliation involves three ideas. First, it recognizes that racism in America is both systemic and institutionalized, with far-reaching effects on both political engagement and economic opportunities for minorities. Second, reconciliation is engendered by empowering local communities through relationship-building and truth-telling. Lastly, justice is the essential component of the conciliatory process—justice that is best termed as restorative rather than retributive, while still maintaining its vital punitive character.

Racialized: A blanket term to include those who do not identify as only white or Caucasian. This is the preferred and most inclusive term currently as it puts the onus on the social construct of race instead of the presentation of the racialized person.

Racism: The combination of individual prejudice and individual discrimination, on one hand, and institutional policies and practices, on the other, that result in the unjustified negative treatment and subordination of members of racial or ethnic groups that have experienced a history of discrimination. Prejudice, discrimination, and racism do not require intention.​ Racism can be demonstrated in cultural, environmental, individual, institutional, internalized, and structural ways, as outlined below:

• Racism (Cultural) – Refers to representations, messages and stories conveying the idea that behaviors and values associated with white people or whiteness are automatically better or more normal than those associated with other racially defined groups

• Racism (Environmental) – Refers to racial discrimination in environmental policy-making and the enforcement of regulations and laws; the deliberate targeting of communities of color for toxic waste facilities; the official sanctioning of the life-threatening presence of poisons and pollutants in communities; and the history of excluding people of color from the leadership of the environmental movement.

• Racism (Individual) – The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

• Racism (Institutional) – Refers specifically to the ways in which institutional policies and practices create different outcomes for different racial groups.

• Racism (Internalized) – Internalized racism is the personal conscious or subconscious acceptance of the dominant society’s racist views, stereotypes and biases of one’s ethnic group. It gives rise to patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving that result in discriminating, minimizing, criticizing, finding fault, invalidating and hating oneself while simultaneously valuing the dominant culture.

• Racism (Structural) – The macro-level systems, social forces, institutions, ideology, and processes that interact with one another to generate and reinforce inequities among racial and ethnic groups.

Stereotype Threat: Refers to the risk of confirming negative stereotypes about an individual’s racial, ethnic, gender, or cultural group. The term was coined by the researchers Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson, who performed experiments that showed that black college students performed worse on standardized tests than their white peers when they were reminded, before taking the tests, that their racial group tends to do poorly on such exams. When their race was not emphasized, however, black students performed similarly to their white peers.

White Supremacy: The belief that White people are superior to people of other races and should therefore hold a dominant position in society. Followers of white supremacy promote an ideology that describes the social, political, and economic domination of whites over all other races. As different cultures have differing definitions of race, who is considered "white" and which racial or cultural groups are specifically targeted can vary, both geographically and over time.

Xenophobia: A culturally based fear of outsiders. It has often been associated with the hostile reception given to those who immigrate into societies and communities. It could result from a genuine fear of strangers, or it could be based on things such as competition for jobs, or ethnic, racial or religious prejudice.

Agnostic: A person who holds the belief that a greater entity, or existence of deities, is unknown or unknowable.

Anti-Semitism: A certain perception of Jewish people, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jewish people. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

Interfaith: Involving people of different faiths.​

Islamophobia: A contrived fear or prejudice fomented by the existing Eurocentric and Orientalist global power structure. It is directed at a perceived or real Muslim threat through the maintenance and extension of existing disparities in economic, political, social and cultural relations, while rationalizing the necessity to deploy violence as a tool to achieve “civilizational rehab” of the target communities (Muslim or otherwise). Islamophobia reintroduces and reaffirms a global racial structure through which resource distribution disparities are maintained and extended.​

Religious Accommodation: Any adjustment to the work environment that will allow an employee or applicant to practice his or her religion. The need for religious accommodation may arise where an individual's religious beliefs, observances or practices conflict with a specific task or requirement of the position or an application process. Accommodation requests often relate to work schedules, dress and grooming, or religious expression in the workplace.

Access: Refers to the ways in which educational institutions and policies ensure—or at least strive to ensure—that students have equal and equitable opportunities to take full advantage of their education. Increasing access generally requires schools to provide additional services or remove any actual or potential barriers that might prevent some students from equitable participation in certain courses or academic programs.

Achievement gap: Refers to any significant and persistent disparity in academic performance or educational attainment between different groups of students, such as white students and minorities, for example, or students from higher-income and lower-income households.

Class: Refers to how much wealth you have access to through property, inheritance, family support, investments, or other wealth not directly associated to wage earning. It is different than socioeconomic status.  

Classism: The institutional, cultural, and individual set of practices and beliefs that assign differential value to people according to their socioeconomic class in a social system characterized by economic inequality.

Income inequality: Regards the differences in the levels of personal income or wealth in a narrow sense; in a broader sense, it includes all the values that directly or indirectly derive from economic activities, which can be used in obtaining them or can be exchanged with them. In the first case, its interpretation is straightforward, in the second, it requires the integration of different systems of inequality that include, besides income and wealth, elements such as health, knowledge, power, or availability of public services, and so on, whose distribution among individuals does not coincide with that of income.

Low-income individual: Those whose family incomes fall below 50 percent of the federally established poverty guideline for their family size.

Opportunity gap: Refers to the ways in which race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, English proficiency, community wealth, familial situations, or other factors contribute to or perpetuate lower educational aspirations, achievement, and attainment for certain groups of students.

Socio-economic status (SES): The social standing or class of an individual or group. It is often measured as a combination of education, income and occupation. Examinations of socioeconomic status often reveal inequities in access to resources, plus issues related to privilege, power and control.​

Social Welfare: Organized educational, cultural, medical, and financial assistance to those in need. Access to such programs is considered a basic or inalienable right of those in need.

​Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Resources - LSU

Harvard DIB Glossary: Foundational Concepts & Affirming Language​

Hollins University Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Terms and Definitions

Fisk University Social Justice Lib Guide